Precipice

'Did you check quietly where he was going?'

'You don't play games like that with Archie – he expects to be able to trust you. When we reached the concourse he told me to wait by the bookstall. I saw him heading for the Swissair check-in counter and thought that would be the last I'd see of him. Then I was going to drive here.'

'Something happened then?' Tweed enquired.

'Something unexpected. Archie did come back to me. He showed me his flight ticket – the copy and his boarding card. Just guess where he was flying to. He'll have arrived several hours ago.'

'Just tell me.' Tweed said impatiently.

'Geneva.'

15

There was silence in the office for a few minutes after Newman had reported Archie's destination. Tweed sat in his chair staring at a map of Europe Paula had earlier attached to a wall at his request.

Tweed had stuck pins with coloured heads in the map marking certain cities. Paris, Zurich, Berne, Geneva, Ouchy, and Montreux. Paula had the impression he was not looking at the map at all, that his mind was miles away. Suddenly he sat up very straight.

'Monica, call Butler at his flat, tell him to pack a bag for cold weather, and then come over here. When Pete Nield calls from Dorset tell him to make record time getting here. If he doesn't phone within the hour keep trying him at the Black Bear.'

'What about us?' asked Paula.

'Be ready at a moment's notice to fly to Europe, all of you. Cold-weather kit.'

'Why cold weather?' enquired Marler, still standing against the wall.

'Because the moment I arrived back here I checked in a newspaper the temperatures in Switzerland. They're way below zero and there's been heavy snow. Because of the latter factor pack footwear for snow – and for ice.'

'Action this day.' said Paula. 'We're going on our holidays.'

'Not yet.' said Tweed. 'But I want everyone ready to go.' He stood up. 'And now I have to keep appointments I've made with two people.. .'

He paused as the phone rang. Monica answered, looked surprised, and it was rare for her to show any emotion. She covered the mouthpiece.

'Tweed, you won't believe this but I have on the line Leopold Brazil. Not an assistant – the great man himself. He wants to speak to you.'

Take down this message which I want you to repeat to him word for word. Mr Tweed is away for the whole day…' Monica scribbled in swift shorthand on a notebook the exact wording as Tweed continued. 'I know Mr Newman passed on your request to him to meet you but at the moment he is heavily involved. That's the message. Begin the conversation by saying it's a bad line and you're transferring to another phone. Then pause and start talking as soon as I lift the phone so I can listen in…'

Tweed picked up his phone when Monica nodded, listened with great concentration. When she had finished passing on the message Brazil began speaking again.

'Could you kindly tell Mr Tweed when you see him that I need to see him urgently before there is a catastrophe. I have an executive jet at my disposal which can pick him up from Heathrow and fly him to any airport in Europe of his choice. I would prefer him to come alone. I shall be on my own. Thank you so much…'

Tweed put down the phone at the same moment as Monica. He repeated to the others what Brazil had said, then looked at Newman.

'I once met him but it was quite awhile ago and it was a brief conversation. Listening to him on the phone I had the impression of a man of great charm, also one of great authority but without a trace of arrogance. His voice has a strong timbre. I also detected a ruthless streak. What was your impression on the day you met him at Grenville Grange?'

'Exactly the same as yours.'

'Interesting. And I'm glad I've taken the precautions Monica is about to put into action.'

'I'll have to make a quick trip to my pad.' said Marler.

'Better go now then.'

'You're not going to meet him under those conditions, for heaven's sake, are you?' protested Newman. 'Travelling aboard his jet he'll have you in the palm of his tough hand.'

'We'll see…'

'You must have back-up. Very heavy back-up.' Newman insisted.

'We'll see.' Tweed repeated as he stood up and quickly put on his coat. 'Now I must hurry…'

'You didn't tell us who you were going to see.' Paula said anxiously.

'Sorry, I had my mind on something else. My first outing is to see Miss Maggie Mayfield. I've reserved a room at Brown's Hotel so we can have privacy.'

'Who on earth is she?'

'General Sterndale's niece and only surviving relative. She was due to stay with him on the night the mansion was burned down – but had a bad cold so she never went.'

'And your second appointment?' Paula went on.

'With Professor Grogarty in Harley Street. Does that name ring a bell with anyone?'

'Greatest living all-round scientist.' said Newman.

'Which reminds me.' Tweed said to Monica. 'I'll need that list of twenty missing scientists you drew up which shows each one's speciality.'

Monica handed him a file. He looked round the room as he tucked it under his arm.

'When I return we may have a better idea of what exactly is going on. Grogarty is eccentric, but a genius…'

In his Berne office Brazil had put down the phone after attempting to speak to Tweed and stared into space. His reaction was oddly like a mannerism of Tweed's. Jose kept quiet for a few minutes before speaking.

'He was not available then, sir?'

'I can't be sure, but I think Tweed was listening in to every word. I sensed his presence while his assistant fed me lies, said he was away.'

'A very elusive man, our Mr Tweed.' Jose remarked.

'It makes me even more anxious to meet him again -and for a really deep conversation this time. I suspect he knows that. I'm counting on the word "catastrophe" I used to fester in his mind.'

'And in the meantime we wait?'

'We do not!' boomed Brazil, standing up behind his desk and gazing down at his assistant. 'We proceed with our project which will not be ready for a few days at the earliest. I want you to phone Konrad and tell him all is proceeding according to plan. Konrad, a peculiar code name for a Russian, for Karov, the real man of power.'

Tweed shook hands with Maggie Mayfield in the private room at Brown's. A plain woman in her forties, plump but with a strikingly intelligent face and shrewd brown eyes, she smiled.

'I'm sorry to have kept you waiting,' Tweed began.

'I always arrive ten minutes early for appointments.' She grinned wickedly. 'I have been known to turn up at an embarrassing moment. Now, how can I help you?'

They sat down and she poured coffee for both of them. Tweed had taken off his coat and they faced each other across a small oblong antique table.

'After the tragedy at Sterndale Manor I was present when the police retrieved the large safe you told me about. The contents had been burned to ashes but my people are working on a technique to bring up what was written on them.'

'Rubbish. It will be rubbish.'

'Why are you so certain of that?'

'Because when I phoned my uncle to tell him I could not come to his home I also asked him if the bearer bonds had been returned. After all, he told me they were on loan to a remarkable man to finance a project which would make Europe a safer place.'

'He gave you the name of this so-called remarkable man?'

'No. He refused point-blank. Said that was his affair. But he did tell me the bonds would be back in the safe by the end of the month. It's nearly the end of February now.'

'How long ago was this phone conversation you had with the General?'